


A Changed Man

by scarletladyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-29
Updated: 2010-10-29
Packaged: 2017-10-13 05:33:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/133522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletladyy/pseuds/scarletladyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dudley is somewhat of a changed man, realising that to make a life for himself he can't have the attitude he used to. Whilst working for Harry, Dudley comes across a broken Pansy Parkinson, who has very much the attitude Dudley used to, and hasn't realised it just doesn't do her any good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Changed Man

Dudley stood gloomily in front of his cousin's Apocathery, cursing himself that his poor attitude with previous employers had led him to this. Since he couldn't get a decent reference, nobody was willing to hire him, particularly not with his temper when he couldn't answer the interview questions properly.

"Ahh, there you are, Dudley," Harry smiled weakly at him as he peeked his head out the door. "Come on in, you know I don't bite. That was always your job."

"Hmph," Dudley grunted, eyeing Harry suspiciously. Dudley had never really got on with his cousin, but he put that partly down to how his parents had brought him up to treat the wizard. Both his mother and father had been scared of magic, and weren't too pleased when Dudley had told him where his new place of employment was. Alas, they realised he had to work somewhere, because they really didn't want him sponging off them for the rest of his life, so they sent him off with a caution about 'watching those blasted wizards'.

"I thought you could work the till. You know how to work tills, don't you?" Harry asked as Dudley closed the door behind him.

"Er, I suppose," Dudley replied with a little apprehension in his voice. "Where is everyone?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "We're not open yet."

"Oh," mumbled Dudley, and looked around the shop. It was small and the shelves were crammed with vials upon vials of different potions, and he vowed that if he could help it, he wouldn't touch any of them. "They can't harm me, can they?"

"What?" Harry turned his head to where Dudley was indicating the vials. "Oh, well, some of them can, but as long as you don't touch the actual liquid you'll be fine."

Dudley nodded. "Right. So what sort of customers do you usually get? Are they all..."

"...magical?" Harry finished his sentence off for him, and Dudley nodded. "Yes, but don't piss them off and you won't get hexed. We get some dark wizards in here sometimes, and by far our most frequent customer has to be Pansy Parkinson." When Dudley looked confused, Harry continued with a clarification. "We went to school together, but she's a Slytherin and tried to hand me over to the Dark Lord. It's safe to say we don't have the best relations."

"Then why does she shop here?" Dudley asked, twirling his fingers round an empty vial next to him.

"We're the only Wizarding community in several miles, and she creates highly classified potions for the Ministry, so she doesn't have time to shop elsewhere due to our petty childhood differences," Harry replied. "Besides, she's not a difficult customer, just a cold one."

"You want me to serve the customers, then?" Dudley asked, taking his place behind the counter.

Harry nodded. "I do. I'll be in the back sorting out admin stuff, so if you need me, just call."

"Sure," said Dudley, and perched himself on a chair behind the counter. After an hour went by and there wasn't a single customer he wished he'd brought a comic, or something else to distract him, because this really was boring work. The last time he'd had a job where he didn't have to do much he'd walked out, but he knew what a risk Harry was taking in hiring him and so he stayed put. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a woman with dark brown hair down to her shoulders walked in. "Can I help you?"

"Sssh!" the woman hissed, putting up a finger to silence him as she browsed the shelves. He had to bite his tongue to not say anything back to her, because he usually didn't allow anyone to speak to him like that. Once she'd picked up three vials, she headed over to him and carefully placed them on the counter. "How on earth do you expect me to find what I want if you're blabbering on at me?"

"Sorry," he muttered, placing the vials in the bag, but as he did so, she put out her hand to stop him.

"Those are delicate! Here, let me do that since you're obviously incapable," she snapped.

"Five galleons," Dudley said tiresomely, his short fuse feeling as though it was going to go off if she said one more thing to him.

"Where is Harry today?" the woman asked, looking around the shop suspiciously. "Why has he hired such an oaf of a man?"

"Do you mind?" Dudley roared as the anger burst out of him. " _Harry_ is in the back, and I'm his cousin."

"Oh," she said. "It was a pity job offering, then."

"No you --" Dudley was about to go off on one when he heard the calm, yet loud, voice of Harry behind him.

"Is everything okay?"

The woman looked at Harry sharply. "No, everything is _not_ okay. This oaf here spoke to me while I was trying to concentrate, wasn't careful with my vials and then had the audacity to shout at me!"

"My sincere apologies, Miss Parkinson," Harry said, walking forward and taking an empty gold vial off the nearest shelf. "Here, have one of these, on me."

"Thank you," the woman said awkwardly, and Dudley realised that this was the Pansy Parkinson that Harry had mentioned earlier. "Good day, Harry."

"You too, Miss Parkinson," Harry smiled politely at her as she left the shop, and then turned to Dudley with a stony face.

"What do you think you're doing talking to my customers like that?" Harry asked, his fists clenched into tight balls at his sides.

"She provoked me!" Dudley tried to argue, but it didn't seem to wash.

"That still does not give you the right to treat her like that," Harry said. "As long as you know how to handle Pansy she won't give you any trouble."

"Yeah, well I don't, do I?" Dudley said with annoyance in his voice. "You didn't tell me she wanted silence, or that she was anal about her vials."

"You know now," Harry said simply. "Make sure you apologise to her next time she comes in. She's my best customer, and I can't afford to lose her because you can't keep your temper under wraps. You know I'm taking a big risk in hiring you, Dudley. Don't let me down."

"' _Don't let me down!_ '" Dudley mimicked after Harry disappeared into the backroom again, still feeling as though he was the one in the right and Pansy was in the wrong.

*

Dudley turned the sign on the door round to closed and went into the backroom to find Harry, who was just putting a way a load of files.

"Fancy a drink?" Harry surprised Dudley by asking. "I usually go for a quick one after the day is up."

"Er," Dudley wasn't so sure about working with Harry _and_ socialising with him, but he supposed it was the least he could do since Harry had hired him. "Yeah, sure."

"I'll just be a minute," replied Harry, "and we'll go to the local. It's usually quiet in there."

Dudley nodded, but he had a sneaky suspicion that Harry was taking him to a Wizarding pub, for he knew of no Muggle pubs that were quiet on a regular basis. Still, he grinned and bared it, soon finding himself walking through the doors of an old, stone building with _The Swan_ written on the side. Harry had been right; it was quiet, painfully quiet, and apart from the barman they were the only two in there.

"The usual, please," Harry said to the barman, "and Dudley?"

"Er --" Since he wasn't sure whether the place was magical or Muggle, he didn't quite know what to order, but Harry soon caught on and got him something called a 'Butterbeer'. Magical it was, then, he thought as they sat down at a table in the corner. "Why is it so quiet?"

"The Wizarding community around here isn't that large, but we do like a place to all get together sometimes," Harry said, shrugging, as Dudley tasted the Butterbeer. It was unusual, but he thought he could probably grow to like it if given a proper try. "How is it?"

"It's all right," said Dudley, his head turning when he heard the sound of the pub door opening. At least there would be more than the two of them in there now, because it was starting to get a little awkward. They hardly knew each other, and it felt like they'd only just met, despite being family. The person who walked in was a woman with dark hair, who looked strikingly familiar, but Dudley couldn't place her until she turned around; it was the woman that had come into the shop earlier. Dudley sighed loudly, prompting Harry to see what had annoyed him.

"Oh, it's Pansy," Harry noted. "Don't mind her, she'll leave you alone if you don't bother her."

"How do you know?" Dudley asked, eyeing her suspiciously as she stood at the bar.

"Because she hates Muggles," laughed Harry. "She was part of the dark side, though never a Death Eater herself. Her boyfriend was, though."

"Boyfriend?" asked Dudley tentatively, though unsure as to why he was curious. After all, she'd been nothing but rude to him in the shop earlier.

Harry nodded. "Malfoy. We were rivals at school, hated each other. I don't like to acknowledge it, due to the things he did, but he was as much a victim of the war as any of us."

"Um, okay." Dudley really didn't care for this war that Harry kept banging on about, for he didn't have a clue who any of the people Harry mentioned were. "Are they still together?"

"No," Harry said simply. "I don't know what happened, but a couple of years ago he married a woman called Astoria. It was all over the papers."

"Not ours," Dudley remarked.

"No, not the Muggle ones, obviously." Harry took a sip of Firewhiskey. "Anyway, why are you so interested?"

Dudley shrugged. "I'm not sure. She just seems... intriguing."

"I suppose thats one way of putting it," Harry laughed. "So how did you find your first day?"

"Fine," said Dudley, his eyes gazing around the room but constantly stopping on Pansy, who had sat by herself at the bar. "It wasn't exactly challenging."

"Mmm," agreed Harry. "Better than nothing, though."

"Suppose," Dudley muttered, cursing himself that he'd managed to piss off the employers of the jobs he actually did want.

"We can work on your attitude and maybe in a few years you'll be ready for another job!" Harry joked, but Dudley was less than impressed, only managing to keep a smile on his face as he watched Pansy. He found it strange, since he'd never really noticed women before. He'd fancied them and found them attractive, though he'd never really had a serious relationship, and yet he couldn't seem to take his eyes off Pansy. Harry finished his drink and wiped his face on his sleeve. "I only wanted the one so I'm going to be off now. Make sure you're not late tomorrow, eh?"

"Yeah," Dudley said, glad to be rid of the awkward conversation. He knew as time passed he'd be able to cope better with being around Harry, but for now, he wanted a rest, and downed the rest of his Butterbeer in one. He went to the bar, deciding to order what Harry had called a 'Firewhiskey', as it sounded like an edgier version of the Muggle whiskey, which he'd acquired a taste for. Once he'd collected his drink he turned to Pansy, plucking up the courage to speak to her. "Hi."

Pansy looked at him pitifully. "Er, do you I know you?"

"You came in the Apothecary earlier," said Dudley, smiling harmlessly at her. "I served you."

"Ahh." Pansy's faced flashed with recognition. "You're Harry's oaf."

Dudley sighed. "You don't hold back, do you?"

"Better to say what you think than hide it forever," said Pansy, but Dudley shook his head.

"I disagree. I lost a lot of jobs like that."

"Yes, well, my work is solitary and people leave me alone when they see me, so I don't have that problem," she remarked.

"Why do they leave you alone?" said Dudley, slightly concerned, and though she was trying to hide it he could have sworn he saw tears flash over her eyes.

"Because I tried to hand Harry over to the Dark Lord," said Pansy, rolling her eyes. "Most people seem to forget I was only seventeen at the time."

"Perhaps it doesn't help that you're sharp and harsh when people speak to you?" asked Dudley tentatively, not quite sure as to why he was trying to help her, but convinced it was for the same reason he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her earlier.

Pansy smirked. "That's who I am."

"I doubt it," said Dudley. "I reckon it's a front."

"And what makes you think that?" Pansy looked completely intrigued as she nodded silently for the barman to pass her another Firewhiskey.

"You remind me of myself," he said. "Stubborn, cruel, spiteful, you name it. I'm not a saint now, but I'm better than I was, and I can hardly survive with my hated of the Wizarding world if it's the only work I can get."

Pansy looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You're a Muggle?"

"Yes." There was an awkward silence before Dudley broke it with a peace offering. "Look, do you want to join me? It doesn't make any sense for the only two people in a pub to be sitting on their own."

"I like being on my own," said Pansy.

"This is your third Firewhiskey tonight, and something tells me you're unhappy and only on your own because you have to be. You can tell yourself you like being on your own all you want, but at least don't make me be miserable."

Pansy looked as though she wanted to say she didn't care, but refrained from it and Dudley led her to where he and Harry had sat several minutes ago. Their conversation wasn't as strained or as awkward as the one Dudley had had with Harry, and as the drinks kept flowing Dudley found himself learning a lot about Pansy's life, particularly everything that had happened with this bloke Malfoy. It would appear she had never quite got over him, and apparently he'd been seeing this Astoria woman behind her back for months before their breakup.

"I'm sorry," Dudley slurred, having just had a sip of his fourth Firewhiskey. "Come here, let me give you a hug." As Dudley lent in, he stumbled and fell towards Pansy's face, accidentally kissing her. Panicked, he pulled back, but to his surprise Pansy pushed forwards and kissed him passionately.

"Let's go back to mine, it's only down the road," Pansy said softly, her eyes a little bloodshot from the drink. Dudley eagerly agreed and grabbed his coat, following Pansy down the road until they came to a small cottage. Everything was a little blurred, but somehow they managed to get in and make it upstairs, where he found Pansy hurriedly taking off his clothes. It was a bit of a disaster and she kept falling over, so Dudley tried to help, but she didn't seem to be having any of it and kept batting his hands away. "Stop! I'm in charge now."

Smirking, Dudley lay back on the bed and enjoyed himself as Pansy fussed over his body, making sure he was getting pleasured in every available place.

*

Dudley awoke the next morning with his head banging and feeling extremely sickly. His vision was as blurred as it was the night before as he tried to look around the room, completely forgetting where he was. He looked over to his side to see Pansy, and everything had come back to him. They'd had an amazing night of passionate, raw sex, and whilst he would have liked to have tended to her, she wouldn't let him, making sure all the pleasure was reserved for him. It was clearer now that Dudley thought about it that Pansy was suffering in a lot more ways than she'd let on with the breakdown of her former relationship, and he simply smiled at her as she woke up next to him, groggily.

"My heads banging," said Dudley, and Pansy leant across to the table next to her, fetching something out of the drawer.

"Here, have one of these," she said, taking one herself.

Dudley looked at the little blue capsule in his hand and seemed uncertain, for he wasn't sure what it was.

"It'll get rid of your hangover," Pansy reassured. "It's instant."

"Is it magic?" asked Dudley, already sure he knew the answer.

Pansy nodded. "Of course. Trust me, it's worth it."

Tentatively, Dudley took the capsule and felt better the second he swallowed it. His headache had gone and he didn't feel sick anymore. Thinking about it, he could make a fortune selling those to Muggles, but he presumed there was probably some sort of magical law against that. "Thanks. Last night was amazing."

"It was," she smiled, and Dudley saw for the first time the softer side he was sure she had buried beneath her cold exterior.

"Can I ask you something?" Pansy nodded. "Why didn't you let me pleasure you?"

Pansy looked away from him, averting her eyes from his gaze. "I wanted to please you, that's all," she shrugged.

"Is this anything to do with Malfoy?"

"What?" Pansy's hard exterior was back and she looked fuming, as though that name gave her so many memories she wanted to forget. "Don't mention his name in front of me."

"But last night --"

"Screw last night!" Pansy shouted, jumping out of bed and getting dressed. "Look, just get out will you?"

"What? Why?" Dudley was utterly confused.

" _Get out_ ," she yelled at the top of her voice, throwing him his discared clothes. "Now!"

"Fine, fine," said Dudley, dressing faster than he ever had in his life. Before the buttons on his shirt were done up Pansy was shuffling him towards the door, eager to get rid of him. "I'm sorry, yeah? I didn't know you'd react like this..."

"I don't care," Pansy said spitefully, opening the door and throwing Dudley out. By the time he'd collected himself, Pansy had slammed the door in his face, and he sighed as he did up the rest of his shirt buttons.

It was now completely obvious to Dudley that Pansy had never really confronted her breakup with Malfoy, and that she was just living day to day as though it had never happened.

Dudley vowed to himself there and then that it would be _him_ who would heal her, and most certainly make sure that she'd learn not all men were arses. Well, at least not their whole lives, anyway.


End file.
